Air quality update - 'London MEPs reject air quality postponements' - click on the link in the right hand column for Simon Birkett's reaction to the EU amendments. "Air pollution in Central London is much worse than most of us realise. For years, I had heard people in Knightsbridge complain of breathing difficulties and asthma. My first real engagement with the subject though began when I was invited to become Chairman of a new Transport and Environment Committee for The Knightsbridge Association. Wanting to make a difference, I decided to investigate the facts on air pollution and, having learned a little about it, do something to improve the situation. I was alarmed by each new discovery. First, I discovered that air pollution in Brompton Road is two and a half times annual mean World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended levels. Health issues Then I discovered that it is measured where the road narrows to one lane each way, nearly 400 metres away from the worst local air pollution, where there are 12 lanes of traffic each way. Third, I realised that air pollution is about serious health issues at street level as well as climate change in the atmosphere. Then I discovered that there were widespread breaches of the first European Union (EU) legal limits on particulate matter (PM10) in 2005 with the Mayor estimating that 1,031 people died prematurely from exposure to PM10 in that year alone. I also discovered that, by the Mayor's own admission, his new Low Emission Zone would only address 10-20 per cent of the air pollution problem in London. Pollution hotspots So I started looking for good news. The WHO says that 'free access to clean air of acceptable quality is a fundamental necessity and right' and that 'an unequal distribution of health risks across the population raises concerns of environmental justice and equity'. | "The BBC Action Network has therefore proven, in my eyes, that we have entered a new era of democracy where ordinary people can get their message out." | | Simon Birkett |
I found that EU legal limits have been in place for air pollution since 1999 that are planned to protect us from January 2010, that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was consulting on a new air quality strategy and that a new and tougher EU regime was planned on air pollution. And I started contacting others to find a way forward. We worked out quickly that there was no case for anyone in air pollution 'hotspots', like ours, to have any fewer rights to clean air than anyone else and that, after what would be more than 10 years of notice, there would be no case for postponing the enforcement of WHO recommended EU legal limits beyond the long planned January 2010. So I responded to Defra's consultation on behalf of The Knightsbridge Association seeking a package of 12 commitments from the Secretary of State, David Miliband, to protect people from air pollution (our letter can be downloaded from www.knightsbridgeassoc.org.uk). Transformed We sent our letter to amenity societies across Central London and 14 out of 16 in the City of Westminster supported our stance with most wanting exactly the same 12 commitments to protect their own areas. Three of the largest and most influential amenity societies in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea responded similarly. This seemed like progress, but I needed to find a simple to use, powerful, effective and credible way to share our message with others and to link up with like minds. That's when I found the BBC Action Network. It has transformed our campaign for free access to clean air. All of a sudden, I could refer people to an easy to use website rather than having to send them files of information or go through long winded explanations of complex matters. And I could be confident that people would hear our message. New era We have been rewarded in the last week, by leading London politicians who have allowed us to publish online their public statements of support for our campaign. I have had more than a dozen people contact me with useful ideas and insights into events which I have then been able to share properly with others. And I have been contacted by the media who have understood immediately the significance of this campaign and the exceptional depth of support for it from across Central London. Perhaps, most gratifying, our campaign website now comes up on Google.com ahead of comments I had submitted earlier to David Miliband's weblog.
The BBC Action Network has therefore proven, in my eyes, that we have entered a new era of democracy where ordinary people can get their message out. Political will We are currently lobbying European Members of Parliament on a new EU wide air pollution regime ahead of a crucial vote scheduled for early next week. Once the political will exists to tackle air pollution, practical ways of meeting the WHO recommended levels will be found quickly (as they were for sulphur dioxide, leaded petrol and the ozone layer in the past)." By Simon Birkett | 
